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Revelation 22:21: Grace.

²¹ The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s people. Amen. NIV

Throughout these past six months, Tom Wright has helped us again and again with his observations on the book of ‘Revelation’. Here is his comment on the last verse:

‘The letter – it always was a letter, as well as a prophecy and a revelation – ends as it should, with a closing greeting. ‘The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you all’ (verse 21). But, however conventional, this greeting now carries the freight of the entire book. It is dense with a thousand images of ‘grace’, pregnant with the power of the word ‘Lord’ when spoken under the nose of Caesar, sparkling in the still-open invitation to ‘you all,’ and above all delicious with the name, the name that is now exalted high over all, the name of the slaughtered lamb, the name of the one we love and long to see. This book has been a revelation of Jesus, a testimony to Jesus, an act of homage to Jesus. This word. This book. This prophecy…Coming soon. This Jesus.’ ‘Revelation for Everyone’, p.207.

I began to write these Bible notes a number of years ago as a result of an inner ‘prompting’. Just recently, I felt a similar prompting to stop. Such promptings have played a major role in my life and ministry, and I know I cannot afford to ignore them. It’s been a privilege to seek to obey God in putting these thoughts ‘out there’, and I’d like to thank all of you who have made use of them. I also have a special ‘thank you’ for those of you who have communicated with me from time to time, and told me how the notes have helped you. I’m grateful for your encouragement.

As I sign off, let me encourage you to keep reading THE BOOK of books – God’s Book, the Bible. It is mighty; it is life-changing. No notes on Scripture (and there are a lot out there!) can ever replace Scripture itself. As you read it, remember, if you’re a Christian, the Author lives within you. You can ask Him for understanding and He will help you.

I take my leave, echoing John’s prayer that the ‘’grace of the Lord Jesus’’ will be with you.

Stephen.

Revelation 22:17: ‘Come!’

^“17 The Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come!’ And let the one who hears say, ‘Come!’ Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life.” NIV

As we have seen, in this final chapter of Revelation, there is a repeated emphasis on the theme that Jesus is coming soon. In response to this, John’s prayer is (and it should be the prayer of the whole church): ‘’Amen. Come, Lord Jesus’’ (20). But there is also, in the seventeenth verse, the gracious, and repeated, invitation to the ‘’thirsty’’ to ‘’come’’ and ‘’take the free gift of the water of life.’’ These words surely draw from the well of Isaiah 55. Verse 1 of that chapter says:

‘’Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost.’’

 Words of Jesus are also brought to mind:

‘’If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink’’ (John 7:37).

The invitation stands for all the spiritually thirsty today. Jesus will not fail to deliver on His promise. You and I can prove its truth. Salvation is a free gift. Let the church echo this message, and repeat it throughout the world. As the old hymn says, ‘Now none but Christ can satisfy…’

Revelation 22:16-17: Jesus is.

¹⁶ ‘I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star.’¹⁷ The Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come!’ And let the one who hears say, ‘Come!’ Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life. “NIV

Jesus is everything we could ever want or need. He is what our starving souls are hungering for, if we but knew it.  In John’s gospel, 7 ‘’I am’’ statements made by Jesus are recorded. Most commentators would see an implicit claim to divinity in Jesus’ use of this great Old Testament Name for God.

I was reflecting on the fact that John also wrote ‘Revelation’, and there are a number of ‘’I am’’ sayings of Jesus in this last section of the book:

‘’I am coming soon!’’ (7, 12 & 20);

‘’I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End’’ (13; see 21;6. Note that Jesus and God speak the same words, and we know that both share the throne);

‘’I am the Root and Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star’’ (16; see 5:5, 2:28; Romans 13:12).

Richard Bewes writes regarding this last statement:

‘…here is a title of Jesus to make the most pessimistic heart thud with expectation! A new age is going to dawn, and it will be Christ who ushers it in… The bright Morning Star is there before our gaze. And tomorrow belongs to us!’ ‘The Lamb Wins’ pp.149/153.

‘This Morning Star is a sign of the dawning of a new day after a long night of tribulation – a sign of the new day of the kingdom of Jesus Christ.’ Tom Hale: ‘Applied New Testament Commentary’, p.997.